Robotics - Big Dog

This video is quite old but interesting still. The robot cited here is named BigDog but it replicates the size and movement of a Mule. Nonetheless, it shows an amazing ability to manage weight while balancing it self.

The Making of Lamborghini Aventador

Mission Impossible 4

Tom Cruise is back again after starring in not so impressive movies lately. I also was not that impressed by the last Mission Impossible movie. Mission Impossible 4 may seal his demise or it may bring back his fame.

I still remember how glad I was to watch Mission Impossible 2, especially the awesome stunts scenes and the bike chase and the final fight with the villain. Checkout the intense final sequence of MI2 in voiced in URDU :).

MeeGo - To be abandoned by Nokia

Stephen Elop said in an interview that Nokia will not support the MeeGo operating system in future. Reason? he thinks Microsoft Windows Phone is more liked by users than MeeGo. That's why they say love's blind.

But there are still some sensible people in this world whom have filed a petition to save MeeGo. 

For those of you who are still not familiar with MeeGo, its an open source mobile operating system based on Linux, mainly targeted for Smart Phones, Tablets, Vehicle Consoles, TVs, etc. The project was initially conceived by Nokia and Intel to address the shortcoming of Microsoft's solutions for embedded/portable OS. Later on, big names like AMD, Asus, Acer, joined the alliance for supporting this project. I feel that Nokia is completely ignoring the fact that this might be the spark that can reignite its ailing market share.

 

Brave - Trailer of Pixar's upcoming Feature

Checkout the fresh trailer of upcoming feature film from Pixar, Brave.

Launching in 2012, Pixar is featuring a female lead character for the first time in this dark feature about magic and beasts. Here's the synopsis of this movie   

Since ancient times, stories of epic battles and mystical legends have been passed through the generations across the rugged and mysterious Highlands of Scotland. In Brave, a new tale joins the lore when the courageous Merida (Kelly Macdonald) confronts tradition, destiny and the fiercest of beasts. Merida is a skilled archer and impetuous daughter of King Fergus (Billy Connolly) and Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson). Determined to carve her own path in life, Merida defies an age-old custom sacred to the uproarious lords of the land: massive Lord MacGuffin (Kevin McKidd), surly Lord Macintosh (Craig Ferguson) and cantankerous Lord Dingwall (Robbie Coltrane). Merida’s actions inadvertently unleash chaos and fury in the kingdom, and when she turns to an eccentric old Witch (Julie Walters) for help, she is granted an ill-fated wish. The ensuing peril forces Merida to discover the meaning of true bravery in order to undo a beastly curse before it’s too late.

Vertu Signature Precious - A class of its own

Not too many people would have heard of Vertu. It is an independently run subsidiary of Nokia and it does manufactures cellphones, but in an entirely different way and for an entirely different class. Molded from precious metals like stainless steel, silver, platinum or gold, ruby engrossed keypads and sapphire glass front face, these luxurious and classy mobile phones are hand crafted by a master craftsmen who sign it with their very own signature. On the inside, they are based on Symbian platform and future models are to be rolled out with Windows Phone OS. Each phone come with ringtones composed by academy award winning music composer Dario Marianelli. Price tags are obvious to complement the exclusivity while ranging from 6,000euros to 24,000euros for different models. 

Take a look at this demo of brand new Signature Precious

N9 Announced - Welcome Back NOKIA???

Nokia N9

When Nokia ambitiously launched the N8 back in 2010 with first ever 12MP camera, it was coined as the flagship devise that would let Nokia face its ferocious competitors. This might have done the trick only if Nokia had at least considered what exactly is the product it was supposed to make. A "SMART" phone with convenient and user friendly interface housed on a powerful hardware to support future's communication needs. N8 was launched in Oct 2010 with just 256MB ram, and 680MHz processor underneath the failed Symbian3. In contrast, back in June 2010 Samsung had already launched Galaxy S with 1GHz processor and 512MB ram housed by state of the art Android. Apple also had launched iPhone4 in June 2010 with 1GHz processor and 512MB ram on its trademark iOS. Both iPhone4 and Galaxy had 5MP autofocus cameras, sufficient enough for a standard users needs.

It seems that Nokia is yet to learn from its mistakes that have sunk its brand image. They are launching N9 with similar out of date features. They don't even have any FIRST TIME feature under their belt this time, like the 12MP camera in N8. Have a look at N9's official videos before its features are compared with  competitors

Have a look at the comparison of smart-phones of 2011. In the dual core mobile processor age, Nokia has just a plain giga hertz processor, small 3.8in screen with no gyro sensor, no radio, lowest battery and an ugly design to compete against companies it used to lead. Even the price does not complement its features. I would rather buy a Galaxy S2 with better features and almost same price tag. Or the much cheaper LG Optimus 2X.

	Nokia N9	Samsung Galaxy SII	LG Optimus 2X	HTC Sensation
Display	AMOLED	Super AMOLED+	IPS LCD	S-LCD
	3.9in	4.3in	4in	4.3in
	Capacitative	Capacitative	Capacitative	Capacitative
	Gorilla Glass	Gorilla Glass	Gorilla Glass	Gorilla Glass
		Gyro Sensor	Gyro Sensor	Gyro Sensor
	Multi-touch Input	Multi-touch Input	Multi-touch Input	Multi-touch Input
Size & Weight	117x61x12mm	125x66x8.5mm	124x63x11mm	126x65x11mm
	135g	116g	139g	148g
CPU	1GHz	Dual-Core 1.2GHz	Dual-Core 1GHz	Dual-Core 1.2GHz
	PowerVR530 GPU	Mali 400MP GPU	GForce Tegra2 GPU	Adeno 220 GPU
RAM	1GB	1GB	512MB	768MB
Internal Storage	16/64GB	16/32GB	8GB	1GB
OS	MeeGo v1.2	Android 2.3	Android 2.2	Android v2.3
Camera	8MP Auto Focus	8MP Auto Focus	8MP Auto Focus	8MP Auto Focus
	Dual LED Flash	LED Flash	LED Flash	Dual LED Flash
		Image Stabilization	Image Stabilization	Image Stabilization
	Face Detection	Face/Smile Detection	Face/Smile Detection	Face Detection
	720p Video Rec	1080p Video Rec	1080p Video Rec	1080p Video Rec
Connectivity	Wifi + USB + AGPS	Wifi + USB + AGPS	Wifi + USB + AGPS	Wifi + USB + AGPS
	Bluetooth v2.1	Bluetooth v3.0	Bluetooth v2.1	Bluetooth v3.0
Misc Features		Stereo FM Radio	Stereo FM Radio	Stereo FM Radio
	TV Out	TV Out	TV Out	TV Out
Battery	1450mAh	1650mAh	1500mAh	1520mAh
Price (appx)	500EUR	550EUR	350EUR	600EUR